Organic Stories - page 2

Sage Birley Three years ago I returned to my family’s organic farm to help my father. I had just completed three years of schooling in Vancouver and as a young activist I was dealing with my first severe cycle of burnout. Oddly enough, it was that burnout that led me back to the farm. After…
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Marjorie Harris, Glorious Organics, Merville Organic Growers’ Co-operative, Glen Valley Organic Farm Co-operative, and Growing Opportunities Farm Community Co-op No two co-ops are alike—though they often bring together a blend of smart business sense and idealism that lends itself to success, both in the market and in the community. That’s why, for this edition of…
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Marjorie Harris Finding the Roots of Recovery on an Urban Farm Gardengate is a completely unique gem in the world of organic farming and in the broader social community as well. Despite the North Kamloops-based program’s role as a client-centered community service first, and organic farm second, Gardengate’s organic farm boasts an annual harvest of…
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Marjorie Harris The Way of the Past is Hope for the Future What a magical adventure it was to visit Tipiland Organic Produce in Argenta, BC! The ideals of the Aquarian Age generation are manifest in every aspect of Tipiland’s success, demonstrating how the dreams of social interconnectedness, collective action and co-operative systems can become…
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Marjorie Harris Raising Sheep Demands Constant Vigilance Not far from McBride, BC, nestled in the beautiful Robson Valley bottom land that frames the Fraser River, is a wilderness paradise known as the Robson Valley Sheep Farm. Owned and operated by Theres and Hani Gasser, the certified organic farm is dedicated to raising high quality meat sheep, who share the land with…
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Hannah Roessler You don’t need to be young to succeed as a new farmer, as this intrepid pair from the Columbia Valley are proving.“There is just so much shale in the field, we’re always picking up rocks – so there you have it: “Shalefield Farm” was born!” explains Yolanda Versterre when I ask her about…
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Hannah Roessler As Kristen Jordan of Sea Cider Farm can attest, building a farm business is never simple. Planning, preparation and plain hard work are the main ingredients in her recipe for success. “Cider is a humble beverage,” says Kristen Jordan, the owner of Sea Cider Farm and Ciderhouse. We’re sitting in the cidery’s grand…
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Hannah Roessler The No-Weed Philosophy of Pender Island’s Kikuchi Family Boarding the ferry early one summer morning en route to a unique family farm on Pender Island, I am reminded how lucky we are to live in beautiful, diverse British Columbia. I am on my way to meet Arthur Kikuchi, to see if the rumors…
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Hannah Roessler A New Farmer Struggles to Go From Caterpillar to Butterfly I have been pretty amazed by every farmer I’ve ever met — their competence, determination and impressive suite of skills. But now that I am a new farmer myself, I find myself in awe of Liz Perkins of Woolly Bear Farm, a one-acre…
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Hannah Roessler It Takes Dedication, Devotion, and a Community to Raise a Farm I had been trying for weeks to make it to Nanoose Edibles Farm to visit Barbara and Lorne Ebell, but bad weather on the Malahat Highway turned me back each time. The day I finally made it was sunny and warm, and…
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